One of the glories of the gospel
is its simplicity. It is so simple and is presented
with such simple language illustrated by such simple pictures that
proud men who think they're brilliant stumble over plainly revealed
truth and go to hell while those same men think they're studying
deep profound mysteries and unraveling things that no one else understands.
That was the problem with the Jews in John chapter 6 as our
Lord taught them concerning himself and his salvation as a matter
altogether of faith in him without any works. They were confronted
with the doctrine of Christ and simply could not see because
of its simplicity and its plainness. These men were disciples of the
Pharisees. They were taught by the Pharisees
and taught the doctrines of the Pharisees and they understood
the doctrines of the Pharisees, but the doctrine of the gospel
they could not understand. They asked our Lord Jesus after
he had performed mighty works. They said, what shall we do that
we may do the works of God? And when he told them to blew
their minds, he said, believe on him whom the father has sent.
That's it. That's it. That's just, that's
impossible. They couldn't grasp that. He
said, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom
he has sent. And then they didn't seem to
even pause to think about it. Didn't seem to even pause to
think about it. I'm confident they didn't because I deal with
this all the time. Folks ask a question, you answer
the question. You can't even get the answer out before they
ask you another question. It's almost like they've got talking
points like political folks during election campaigns. They just
don't even pause to think about it. They say, well, show us a
sign then. Show us a sign. Let's pick up the narrative in
verse 30, John chapter 6. John chapter 6, verse 30. They
said therefore unto him, what signs showest thou then, that
we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? These are
the same fellows who had just eaten loaves and fishes multiplied
from a small basket of fish, just five loaves and two fish,
multiplied to feed 5,000 men. They had eaten until they were
about to pop. All of them, five loaves and
two pieces of fish. They said, now, show us something.
Show us a work that we may believe you, that you are indeed that
one the father has sent. Our fathers did eat manna in
the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. And the obvious intention is
Moses gave us bread from heaven. He fed our fathers in the wilderness
for 40 years. You haven't done anything. All
you did was just feed 5,000 men with some loaves and fishes.
Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness for 40 years. He That
is, Moses gave them bread from heaven. They revered Moses to
the point of revering him as God. You say, well, that's not
exactly what they meant. Let's see. Look at the next line.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread. You see the implication? Our
Lord's saying you're talking about Moses giving you bread.
Moses didn't give you that bread. He didn't give you that bread
from heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread that God gave is
he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. Now the Lord willing, we'll come
back to this passage again in a few weeks when we get back
from England. But for now, I want to just pull from this paragraph
three statements that our Lord Jesus makes here. Three of our
Savior's most well-known statements. Three statements that are often
repeated by men, by preachers, by folks when they talk about
the scriptures. Three pearls. strung together
in this one passage as on a necklace that fell from the lips of our
Lord Jesus Christ. They are precious, precious,
instructive truths of the gospel. First, he makes a statement about
himself. The Lord Jesus says concerning
himself in verse 35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. The bread of God is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The manna that fell in the wilderness,
that which God scattered out to feed the children of Israel
for 40 years, was but typical of Him. It was intended to be
typical of Him. As that manna preserved life
for the children of Israel, was given to them and gathered by
them every day. So the Lord Jesus Christ is that
bread which came down from heaven and gives life, nourishes life,
sustains life. He is the bread of life. Our Lord Jesus says, I am. That is, I am Jehovah. Throughout the Gospel of John,
he uses those words put together. Actually, they're just one word,
but in our text referred to as two, or in the English language
has to be translated as two. He says, I am, speaking of the
eternal, self-existent Jehovah. I am the bread, I am the light,
and so on. Our Lord Jesus speaks of himself
then as God, that one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush,
revealing himself in his redemptive name and in his redemptive glory.
I am that bread that came down from God. Jehovah, yes I am,
but I am he who came down from God as Jehovah's servant. Came
down from God on a mission. Came down from God and give spiritual,
eternal life to men. Life to the world. That is, life
to men and women through all parts of the world. In every
aspect of the world's existence. Not just to the Jews as the manna
fell in the wilderness, but to God's Israel scattered everywhere. He says, I am the bread. by which
you live, the bread by which you're sustained, the bread that
is necessary for you. Believers are those who eat this
bread. Our Lord Jesus speaks of himself
here as that one who is appointed as the necessary food for man's
soul. He is the satisfier and the reliever
of all our needs. He is the one who is the great
physician who heals our souls. And he does this by his sin atoning
death. He does it by His all-sufficient grace. He does it by all aspects
of His mediatorial character and His mediatorial works. Everything
He does is bread to our souls. Everything He is is bread to
our souls. In Him alone there is life. Now,
I could spend a lot of time and probably should talking about
the bread, but let's just note some aspects of it that are clearly
set forth in Scripture. In scripture, bread is used to
represent that which is necessary food, that which you must have. Often, the word bread represents
meat or food of any kind necessary to sustain the body. Certainly,
it is specifically spoken of as bread just as we think about
it. But the bread is that which was necessary for life. That's
what Christ is. He is that one thing needful. that which is necessary for life. Not only is bread used in the
scripture to speak of that which is necessary for life, bread
is used in the scripture to speak of that which we need daily.
We can do without some things every day. I like spaghetti pretty
good, but I don't want it every day. I like steak pretty good,
but I don't want it every day. Bread, I want it three times
a day, if not more. I have never yet gotten tired
of eating bread. I haven't smelled any yeast bread
cooking in Shelby's oven, and I don't know when, but I can
still smell it. I just, I never get tired of it. I never get
tired of it. Bread is something that we want daily. Oh, that's
what Christ is to our souls. Him whom we must have daily. Him whom we seek daily. Him whom we want daily. I've
said all that to say this. I know we must have him. I know we need him daily. But this all falls on deaf ears,
except he give you a hunger for him. You got to have him. But I can
set him before you all day. and you'll never have any hunger
for him unless God the Holy Spirit creates the hunger. I ran across
a hymn by Joseph Hart. He can do some, he writes some
tremendous hymns. Listen to this. I've never seen
this before, I don't think. A form of words, though air so sound,
can never save a soul. The Holy Ghost must give the
wound and make the wounded whole. Though God's election is a truth,
small comfort there I see, till I am told by God's own mouth
that he has chosen me. That's the truth with regard
to all aspects of spiritual truth. God alone can make you hunger
for this bread. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ,
the Messiah, whom God sent into the world to quicken those who
are dead in trespasses and in sins, to give eternal life to
as many as the Father has given him. If we would have this life,
we must come to him. We must eat this bread. And yet
we cannot and will not, except God the Holy Spirit calls us
to hunger for this bread and give us grace to eat this bread.
I hope you know something about the spiritual hunger. And I hope
I do. Do we feel any craving in our
souls? Any emptiness in our consciences? Any hunger in our hearts for
the Son of God? Christ alone can and must supply
the need of our souls. Not only initially, but continually. It is his office and his work
in all aspects of his mediatorial character to relieve hungry souls,
to give life to dead sinners, to sustain his people in life
as bread necessary for our souls. We must believe him. We must
eat this bread coming to him by faith, receiving him for ourselves. It is written, he that cometh
unto me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. All right, look back at our text
again. Our Lord gave us first a word about himself. Here's
the second pearl. He gives us a statement about his people.
Verse 37, the son of God, makes a remarkable statement.
Now before we read it, listen to me. It's broad. It's unconditional. It's unqualified. It's completely unguarded. I get warnings from imaginary
theologians all the time. You can't say these things without
guarding them. You've got to put up some fences. The statement's completely unguarded. Completely unguarded. You can't
take this too far. Take it just as far as you can. And you haven't begun to reach
the end of it. Him that cometh unto me, I will
in no wise cast out. What a word of grace. Him that
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. What does this
mean, cometh? The word refers to that movement
of the soul. That movement that takes place
inside when a sinner feeling his sins. Yes, that's a good
word, feeling his sins. Finding out that he cannot save
himself, hears of Christ and applies to Christ and trusts
Christ and believes on Christ and lays hold of Christ. Coming
to Christ is believing Him. Coming to Christ is not a movement
of your body. It is not stepping out into the
aisle and walking forward in a religious campaign. Coming
to Christ is not even the movement of your lips. It's the movement
of your heart. It's the movement of your heart.
And it's not a once-for-all thing. To whom coming, the Apostle says. We continually come to Him. Our
Lord uses this linear tense, Him that cometh unto me. He doesn't say he that came or
he that shall come or even he that comes, him that cometh unto
me. He comes and he comes and he
comes and he comes and he doesn't quit because the hunger never
ceases. Once you have a hunger for him,
you will hunger no more for the things of the world, but rather
for him. and you will never cease to hunger
for him. Eating this bread, you shall
be satisfied, but you shall never cease to hunger. The words coming
then speak of believing on the Lord Jesus. What does our Lord
mean when he says, I will in no wise cast him out? You know,
I've said this so many times, but don't you find it remarkable
that when you read things in the scriptures, If you read them
in the newspaper, if you read them in a letter, if you read
them in a journal of any kind, if you read them in a magazine,
and you say, well, that's plain enough. You wouldn't ask, what
does that mean? I will in no wise cast him out. Those are all one syllable words
with three or less letters. That's pretty simple. That's
pretty simple. How hard can that be to understand? Well, what
does that mean? It means I will, in no wise, cast him out. I won't cast him out if he comes
to me. I won't cast him out when he
comes. I won't cast him out as he's coming. I won't cast him
out for any reason. I won't cast him out at any time.
He'll never find a closed door. He will never find a barrier.
He'll never find a hindrance. He's welcome, and I will in no
wise cast him out. Oh, but pastor, I've been such
a horrible sinner. Well, that would probably matter
to me. But it doesn't to him. I will
in no wise cast him out. But pastor, I have so many sins. Oh, you wouldn't want me to tell
you about the greatness of my sin. Well, that matter a lot
to your mother. But it doesn't to him. I will
in no wise cast him out. Oh, but I'm so weak. Well, for us who need you, that
would matter a lot. But it doesn't matter to him.
He doesn't need you. I will then knowwise cast him out. But pastor,
I've come to him and I continually have trouble with unbelief and
sin. I've got a letter I got this morning, sometime overnight
on the computer. I've got to answer it as soon
as I get a chance. Someone terribly concerned about struggling with
unbelief. It is not the measure of your faith that matters. It's the object of your faith
and the measure of him whom you have believed that matters. I
will in no wise cast him out. Your weakness and infirmity don't
matter. Your sinfulness doesn't matter. Not in this regard. Not in this
regard. I will in no wise cast him out. That's talking about absolute
eternal security. Brother Don, what about man's
responsibility? We'll talk about that another day. Right now I'm
talking about his grace. I will in no wise cast him out. Come to Christ and he'll receive
you. I can but perish. If I go, I
am resolved to try. But if I stay away, I know I
must forever die. Ah, but if I die with mercy sought,
when I, the king, have tried, this were to die delightful thought,
as sinner never died. He will never cast out any who
come to him for any reason upon any condition." Oh, now those
are golden words indeed. How they soften the aching hearts of God's people
in this world. How easy they make the bed upon
which God's saints die. How comforting in time of trouble. Him that cometh unto me I will
in no wise cast out. All right, here's the third pearl. Our Lord Jesus has made a statement
about himself. He made a statement about his
people. And he makes a statement about God's will. I hear a lot
of people talk about God's will. And a lot of people talk as though
God has two wills. He wants one thing and gets another. Wants one thing and does another.
A lot of people talk about possibility of God's will not being done.
Here is our Lord's third great pearl. Let's begin in verse 38. I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the father's will, which has sent me that of all which he
has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me three times. He's talking about God's will
three times. I want you to know something about God's will. He
says, this is the will of him that sent me that everyone would
see the sun and believe it on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. Now, our Lord tells us here first
that he was sent to do God's will. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Lo, I
come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy
will, O God. Well, what is that will? Read
Hebrews chapter 10, right after he says, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God. In verse 9 he says, By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. The will of God is the salvation
of his people. The will of God is the salvation
of his elect. God Almighty sent his son here,
Jehovah's servant, he came to do God's will. And concerning
that work, the Lord God said in Isaiah chapter 42, he shall
not fail. I come to do thy will. Oh, my
God, this will of God. is that will by which God's elect
had been made perfect, had been sanctified, had been justified,
had been forgiven all through the sin-atoning blood of Jesus
Christ shed for the redemption of our souls at Calvary. Second,
our Savior tells us here that it is the Father's will that
He, the Lord Jesus, should lose none of those who were given
to Him, who were trusted to Him, for whom He was trusted as a
covenant surety before the world began. The Savior here speaks of a definite
company of people. They were given to Him in eternity
past. They are given to Him in time
by God's operations of grace. And he refers to these people,
this definite company whom the Father gave to him in his high
priestly prayer. Go home and read that this afternoon
if you can. It'll bless you. John chapter
17, six times in that prayer, he speaks of those the Father
has given him. I'm here. doing business for somebody.
I'm here working out a salvation for somebody. This distinct particular
people called God's elect. He'll never forget them. He'll
never forsake them. He'll never cast them out. Eternal
election and sovereign predestination guarantee our absolute security
and preservation. Our salvation, our security,
and our resurrection in the last day do not in any way depend
on us. I got a letter from Brother Mahan.
He tucked in there a brief little outline. Let me give you the
gist of it. He said salvation, our salvation, is not determined
and doesn't depend upon how much faith I have, but rather on whom
I have believed. It doesn't depend on what I think
of myself or what you think of me, but rather what thinking
of Christ. My standing before Moses, my
standing before the law has nothing to do with my salvation, but
rather my standing in Christ. My ability to keep myself got
nothing to do with my security. None at all. But I'm kept by
the power of his grace in Christ. My being free from sin got nothing to do with it, but
His being free from sin. And if He's free from sin, I
am. My moaning and mourning and groaning
and suffering by reason of sin has got nothing to do with it.
But the fact that my Savior moaned and mourned and groaned and suffered
in my room instead accomplished it all. I'm not accepted in my
works or by my works or because of my works. I'm accepted in
the beloved. That's the message our Lord Jesus
gives here. We are the objects of God's unalterable
love and the objects of God's unalterable will and that will
is the salvation of our souls. Here's the third thing. The Lord
Jesus declares he'll lose nothing of those the father's given him.
And he declares thirdly, that it is God's will that everyone
that seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. You're going to send your pastor,
you are sending your pastor again today to preach the gospel to
a lot of people in a lot of places. How come? Because God has some
people. It is his will to say it by the
hearing of the gospel. And Christ can't lose them. He's going to call them. He might
use us to do it, but this is certain. He will raise them up
at the last day, every blessed one of them. How can you be sure
of that? Because this is the will of Him
that sent me. This is God's will. This is God's will. We don't
labor in ignorance, not having any idea of what's going to happen.
I'm always excited to see what God's doing when He just Pulls
back the curtain and lets us see just a little bit. Wouldn't
do for us to see much. But just every now and then see God working.
What a day in which to live. God doing things remarkably.
And as he does, this is what he's doing. This is what he's
doing. I try my best to remember this every time I turn the news
on and I hear something else makes me want to. Yeah, maybe
we'll do something. This is what God's doing. He's
saving his people. He's saving His people and He
shall save them because this is the will of Him that sent
Christ into the world. Amen.